DarkMention: Next-Generation Attack Prediction

The direct and indirect costs of cyber attacks continue to mount while the volume of attacks is increasing. Recent attacks against crypto-currency exchanges illustrate the drastic second and third order effects of such attacks. Hence, such incidents are best avoided. Meanwhile, advances in artificial intelligence and threat intelligence hold promise for prediction of specific attacks weeks before occurring. In this talk, we provide an overview of a new technology called DarkMention that leverages these new predictive techniques. This platform, developed under funding by the U.S. intelligence community has been shown to predict specific attacks against an organization with single-digit false positives in blind tests on real-world attack data. This talk reviews the technology, describes various case studies, and discusses how it is being integrated into real-world enterprise environments.

Paulo Shakarian, Ph.D.

Paulo Shakarian, Ph.D. is the CEO of CYR3CON™, which creates software that uses machine learning to find actionable intelligence for cyber-security. Paulo is also a Fulton Entrepreneurial Professor (tenure-track) at Arizona State University. He has written numerous articles in scientific journals and has authored several books, including Elsevier’s Introduction to Cyber-Warfare and Cambridge’s Darkweb Cyber Threat Intelligence Mining. Recently, his work was featured in major news media including CNN, The Economist, and Business Insider. He was named a “KDD Rising Star” by Microsoft Research Asia, was recipient of the Air Force Young Investigator award, FOSINT-SI Best Paper, and MIT Tech. Review “Best of 2013”. He also held fellowships with both DARPA and New America. CYR3CON™, the company Paulo co-founded, was named won a Defense Innovation Technology Challenge award (2017), named a Finalist in PwC’s most promising company award, won a National Science Foundation Innovation Corps award (2017), and was a semi-finalist in the Cisco Innovation Grand Challenge (2016). Previously, Paulo was an officer in the U.S. Army where he served two combat tours in Iraq, earning a Bronze Star and the Army Commendation Medal for Valor. He also previously worked as an Assistant Professor at West Point.